My National Service experience I remember well
in some parts and not so well in others. Strange
how some things stick so well and yet not others
― and the things I do remember were not always
driven by some momentous event but often were
very much more trivial in nature.

I always had problems recalling dates and
operations and maybe that is because from my
perspective it just wasn’t really relevant to me
as a digger ― life in Vietnam was just an
ongoing series of operations, scrub bashing,
mountains, jungle, contacts and short spells in
camp. But I get ahead of myself.

The first time I was outside the wire was while
with the Australian Reinforcement Unit (1ARU) at
Nui Dat. This was the place reinforcements
were put on arrival in Vietnam before being
allocated to a Battalion. One late afternoon we
went out in platoon strength to ambush overnight
and we ended up on the edge of a banana
plantation with maybe 50 yards of clear ground
before the track/road we were ambushing. Don’t
ask me which road or where it was I haven’t a
clue. Just a minute or two before curfew lifted
in the morning a small motorbike started up and
sped down the road. Nobody fired at the
transgressor given it was practically at curfew
end. Later, the general consensus was that it
was someone either getting an early start off to
work or an enemy courier who thought he was past
the ambush point and was safe to get on the
motorbike.

We had gone through the usual stuff of
reconnoitring the ambush point and also another
area a little further down the road to mislead
anyone who was watching as to exactly where we
would be in ambush so maybe the enemy courier
thing could have been true.

Now here is the silly thing. When we went into
position on the edge of the banana plantation it
was pretty well dusk but I noticed that there
was a little track just the other side of the
edge of the banana plantation. It would have
been about 5 feet from our position and only a
foot or so wide. At the time of going into
position I did not see the track we were
ambushing that was about 50 yards away and I
thought it was this very small and very close
track that we were ambushing. I couldn’t believe
it! I thought what the hell were we doing so
close to the track? I didn’t ask anyone as I
didn’t want to appear stupid for asking so I
just kept quiet. That night I did not sleep a
wink. All I could think of was the enemy coming
down that track (I could almost touch it from my
position) and prayed if the ambush was sprung it
was done at the other end of the ambush and not
anywhere near me.

Of course in the morning it all became clear to
me ― what with the motorbike starting up and all
― and I then realised that the actual track we
ambushed was 50 yards away. I did not tell
anyone of course but I did feel sheepish
afterwards. How does this relate to Charlie
Company? Well it was this very naïve and green
digger that a couple of weeks later ended up
being transferred to C Company 5RAR. Must be
comforting for Charlie Company soldiers to know
the Battalion was being reinforced with the very
finest..........